The premise is super interesting the author really crafts the world well. It's unique and interesting the robots are done so interestingly in this novel.

The problems in pacing particularly the slow pace of the opening

The journey from outcast to messiah is thoughtfully managed, assembling a motley crew to kick at the heel of oppression. Peril and personal growth aplenty.

DNF 50%

This had an interesting premise and setting but I don’t feel the urge to continue reading it. I liked Antiquity but struggled with the pacing of the story and Speakman’s writing style. I was really expecting to enjoy this one but it was just ok for me really. I never felt excited to see what was happening next and I think that is why I quickly set it aside for other books, and now dont’ want to continue it.

Trigger Warnings: on page death of family member; bullying;

It was a fine read. I finished it and enjoyed it, but it lagged in parts for me. I had middling feeling about the idea of a sci-fi culture still having white, western culture as a set norm and the connotations behind the zealous sect called Arabi. I think it could have used a cultural/sensitivity reader or 3.

well written characters with intricate world building. kind of forgettable but I had a good time reading this.

Antiquity was born a Grey, shamed for the actions of her great-grandmother. All she wants is to remove the shame and reclaim her family name, Angelus. When she uncovers the lost mech in the desert she discovers many secrets as well. Her grandmother, Vestige, does all she can to protect her and her future. Through numerous losses, Antiquity walks the path her great-grandmother and grandmother so carefully paved to reclaim their lost name, heritage, and strength.

What can I say? I simply loved this book! Now I don't read a lot of science fiction and I'm working to rectify that but this book is a little more than science fiction. It includes a bit of fantasy with the dragons of the persai and a sword-wielding Will Master. It definitely gave me some early Star Wars vibes. The story is set on Erth, a future Earth (perhaps post-apocalyptic), where former Erth inhabitants called Celestials have returned from Space and rule with an iron fist.

Antiquity is a wonderful character, both honorable and stubborn. Antiquity is a female character I can get behind and cheer on! I wanted her to reclaim her family name and cast off the tarnish of being Grey Shamed. I wanted her to be able to bond fully with her great grandmother's mech. As with each triumph, there is also tragedy that she endures and she does it stoically. Through losses and challenges she keeps fighting with her friends, old and new, beside her. She has her loyal friends, Elsana and Kaihli, who support her in their different ways. Manson Dreath is a constant source of frustration and tension for Antiquity but he also represents another side of her. There is the wise Will Master, Sadiya, who is also an outcast like Antiquity. She also has Chekker, the ever faithful bot charged with keeping her safe. Together they look for the secret her great-grandmother hid and the way to overthrow the Celestials.

I look forward to reading the next book of her story.

I'd like to thank the Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a chance at reviewing this book.

This is sadly one of those books where its not the book, it's me. It's me being such a reader that when I dive into books I expect something new and fresh. I also thought that for a YA book the book read more akin to a grade school / childrens book with the dialogue and the tone. (See Brandon Sanderson's current space book series in the YA and the tone and dialogue of that one to get what I mean.)

I grabbed this book because Robin Hobb said it read really good to her. It didn't read well too me and I just got this feeling the book would not chart well.

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to read books ad give critical feedback to authors and publishers. Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me to read the eARC of this book.

Apologies for the late review of this book.

This is a relatively long sci-fi book with fantasy and a female lead. cyborg aspects are in this book with robots and I easily slid into this fantasy world loved the way it started and the way we flow smoothly through the book. The strong female lead was amazing and made me want to be on her side.

Antiquity Grey’s story is a nice change from the grimdark that I’ve currently been reading. It’s a coming-of-age story with cool mechs. Suitable for Young Adults. A well-written novel that keeps you wanting to know what happens next.

Amazon link to be added.

Forever shamed for family actions a century earlier, Antiquity Grey is a young woman living in a far-future city of Erth. It is a life of danger and hardship, dragons and advanced technology.

But when she discovers an outlawed and operational mech buried in the sands of her planet, she realizes its secrets hold the power to reverse her family’s dishonor while challenging the Imperium’s off-world oppressive might. The Imperium is not so willing to loosen its grip, needing Erth’s valuable titanium resources at a time when war spreads among the stars. In response, the Governor of Erth sends Star Sentinel―his mightiest mech, which nothing can stand against―after Antiquity.

As she flees into the wilderness in a desperate attempt to uncover the secrets of her past and free an entire planet, Antiquity learns friendship can mean more than family, even the hardest heart of an enemy can soften, and adventure is not what she thought it would be.

This is a YA/fantasy/scifi-ish book that was set in this huge universe full of fantasy stuff. It's a good book but idk it felt flat to me. It's still a very very enjoyable time!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy!

I probably would not have finished this if I hadn't been given a copy by NetGalley and asked to review it for Library Journal.

Oof. Where do I start? Probably with the fact that this book is just really boring? The characters are not engaging, I never developed any concern about them at all and did not care about what happened to them. The heroine in particular was not particularly well-developed as a character. Another reviewer said this "felt like an RPG" and I think that feels very true for me – it was kind of like reading a summary of a tabletop campaign.

A big issue I had is that a lot of the exposition is explained via dialogue that felt very unrealistic. Another reviewer described it as "mansplaining" the exposition to the main character, and I don't disagree with that but it felt very unnatural to me. Again, kind of like a DM explaining lore to the players of his RPG campaign.

The biggest issue I had with this book was the perpetuation of white Euro/American-centric culture as the norm and "good", and Middle Eastern culture as the other and "bad." For a book about a colony that rose up against an imperial power, this book had almost no critique of the very real imperialist harm done against people of color and in fact just perpetuated a lot of the stereotypes found in other white/Western science fiction. Very reminiscent of the worst parts of Firefly/Serenity. Imperial colonization is bad but only when its being done to white people!

Pacific Rim meets Rey from The Force Awakens in this meandering first book in a series about the people of Erth taking control back from the resource-hungry, unjust imperial controllers.

Antiquity Grey (amazing name) finds a mech (think Pacific Rim) in the desert and it sets off a domino effect to get fleeing her home with just a few friends and her worst enemy. She makes friends, makes enemies, finds dragons, and discovers family secrets and planet secrets.

I liked this book alot!! It was slow in places but it was a good plot, good characters, good backstory development. The Imperium rulers were really well set up, and I like that concept of how a race can fracture.

I didn't love the depiction of religion here? One demonized, barbaric faction religion played against a peaceful, palatable related one just seemed like something was being set up for a deeper allegory that never came, and so it seemed needless to me.

Is recommend it if someone likes both Sci fi and fantasy and can take the time to read a slower paced book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grim Oak Press for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest review

Our review of The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey is in the November 2021 issue of SFRevu and is exclusive to them until December 1st, 2021.

You may read the review at this link::
<http://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=19555>

I had a lot of fun reading this book! Felt a bit like Star wars: The force Awakens. I felt like it could have been paced a little faster in the middle, but overall no major complaints. It was very exciting and I want to know what happens next in this blend of dystopia-science fiction.

I feel like this book tried to do too much with too little. The world that Speakman has created seems quite large, but is never explored as fully as it could have been. I wanted more explanations for the way things worked, why things are the way they are, and why I should care what happens. There is just too much here with the mix of both sci-fi and fantasy without any of the best parts of either.

The characters also fell flat for me, and left me disengaged from their struggles and conflicts to the point where I was indifferent to how the story would end.

I feel like this would have been better served as a short story or a novella than a full length novel.

This book was unexpectedly refreshing! I think that in the beginning I thought it would be quite a generic sci-fi story, but I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the world-building and of the story after the initial set-up chapters of the story.

My single complaint is that there are a lot of old, wise mentor-type characters that the protagonists encounter who info-dump and then give the protagonists a quest that they “must uncover on their own” rather saying things outright. I think if it happened only once, it would be forgivable; however, that was not the case.

I think that this is the type of story that many readers will just sit back and read for the enjoyment/escapism. However, I wanted to point out that there was also some explicit thematic commentary present in the story due the parallels to real-world politics in the Middle East. I have never read another SFF book inspired by modern day middle eastern politics, and I think that there are people who would enjoy the representation of those aspects in an SFF story.

All-in-all, this is a very approachable book in the tradition of Star Wars, and I would recommend to both YA and adult audiences.

I'll be keeping an eye out for subsequent books in the series, and I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was purely a cover/title request and I don’t regret it at all! I mean, who can resist a book about a girl with an illegal mech trying to overthrow the oppressive ruling class? Certainly not me!

Antiquity Grey is a headstrong, inquisitive girl and during one of her many explorations, she uncovers a mech in the desert. Turns out it was the mech that her grandmother had piloted during the war, but it was sabotaged and it appeared that she had fled the battle she was about to enter. Thus was Antiquity’s family grey-shamed, their name and power stripped and forgotten by all.

Of course Antiquity pilots the found mech into the city to be seen by all. She naively thinks people will be happy, but it only terrifies them for the danger it presents. When she must flee for her life, she’s joined by two of her childhood friends and one of her enemies. They meet fascinating people along the way and must stay ahead of the ever-present danger that lurks behind them.

The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey is a good book somewhere between YA and Adult fantasy and will appeal to both audiences. The characters may be teens, but the plot is quite serious in nature and fortunately doesn’t have any of the YA tropes that can be a big turn off to some readers. While I didn’t immediately connect with the characters I did grow to like them as the story progressed and they became more three dimensional. I like the blend of sci-fi and fantasy elements – mechs, dragons, and oppressors who live in the stars made the story extra special. I’m not 100% I’ll continue on with the series, but this was pretty enjoyable.

*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own*

Dnf 45%

I tried, I really tried to read this book but I wasn't enjoying it, I was all the time seeing how much more pages I had to finish the book and thinking how much I didn't want to be reading this book. The premise of this story is very good, but the execution is not.
The author's writing was what bothered me the most and what I liked the least, I found the writing too tiring, and the fact that the chapters were huge only made it worse, if the chapters were smaller maybe I would even try to finish it because it would give me the feeling that the story it's going forward and somewhere.
The characters are terrible, I didn't connect with any, I thought they were all very shallow, and without any features that would make them interesting.
The plot itself I also found confusing and poorly executed.
So you can see that for me there was nothing good in this book, I couldn't see myself giving more than 2 stars to this book because of the way history was going.

"If the Imperium wants you, you are friends walking among my path."
Antiquity nodded. "And where does that path take you?"
"To freedom"

A space adventure perfect for fans of Star Wars and Pacific Rim!
THE TEMPERED STEEL OF ANTIQUITY GREY offers a fast paced entertaining read with mysterious family secrets, charismatic characters, cool giant robots and DRAGONS!
I personally liked this one A LOT.
Setted on a distant planet being ruled by a tyranic empire, the respective rebellion must resist and fight to regain the authonomy of ther home using the long lost technology of a giant mechanical vessel that shares a deep conection with its pilot.
The group of heroes must start a journey through inclement deserts, giant tree forests and dark caves inhabited by dangerous creatures being guided by old recordings of their ancestors in order to find this ancient power that will help them defeat their oppressors.
Also references social issues like discriminiation, intolerance and culture clash with characters from different environments coming together for a bigger cause setting aside their differences; also featuring a slowburn enemies-to-friends (to hopefully lovers in the future) trope.
Very much entertainig and the writting style is so smooth anyone can read it.
Highly highly recommended!

☆☆☆,5 /5
(english review below)

J'ai bien apprécié ma lecture qui se retrouve être un mélange intéressant entre le post-apocalyptique et la science-fiction, bien qu'il y ait des moins qui ont entaché ma lecture.
¤
Honteuse à jamais pour les actions et erreurs commises par sa famille un siècle plus tôt, Antiquity Grey est une jeune femme vivant dans une ville lointaine d'Erth. Elle mène une vie de danger et de difficultés, de dragons et de technologie de pointe. Mais lorsqu'elle découvre un robot hors-la-loi et opérationnel enterré dans les sables de sa planète, elle se rend compte que ses secrets détiennent le pouvoir de renverser le déshonneur de sa famille tout en défiant la puissance oppressive de l'Imperium hors du monde.
Quant à lui, L'Imperium n'est pas si disposé à desserrer son emprise, ayant besoin des précieuses ressources en titane d'Erth à un moment où la guerre se propage parmi les étoiles. En réponse, le gouverneur d'Erth envoie Star Sentinel, son robot le plus puissant, contre lequel rien ne peut résister après Antiquity. Alors qu'elle s'enfuit dans le désert dans une tentative désespérée de découvrir les secrets de son passé et de libérer une planète entière, Antiquity apprend que l'amitié peut signifier plus que la famille, que même le cœur le plus dur d'un ennemi peut s'adoucir, et que l'aventure ne sera pas comme elle aurait pu se l'imaginer.
¤
Dès la première page, je dois dire que l'auteur a su me happer dans son univers. On se retrouve dans un futur où la Terre a été colonisée par ce qu'on appelle l'Imperium. Les deux mondes se battent pour les ressources que contient la planète bleue. J'ai apprécié ce point de départ plutôt intéressant, qui, je trouve, fait écho à notre actualité concernant les conflits et les colonisations existants dans plusieurs pays afin d'exploiter les différentes ressources de la Terre.
En ajoutant à cet environnement hostil un peu de science-fiction, de technologie, l'auteur a créé un bon cocktail dont les ingrédients piquaient mon palais, comme ce récit dans sa forme m'intriguait énormément.
Aussi, j'ai bien aimé le fait que ce soit les ancêtres de la protagoniste qui ait provoqué cette guerre et qu'aujourd'hui, Antiquity allait devoir tout faire pour sauver son monde, malgré la honte et le déshonneur. On a un peu les connotations de vengeance, de valeur. Parce qu'Antiquity n'est pas sa famille. Elle n'est pas juste le résultat des faits de ses aînés. Elle est une personne à part entière qui doit prouver sa valeur au monde et restaurer son propre honneur qui a été malheureusement dévoré par la chute de celui de sa famille.
¤
Néanmoins, pas mal de choses ont fait que j'ai fini par ne plus être aussi concentrée durant ma lecture, à la fin par rapport au début.
J'ai trouvé la protagoniste trop... immature. Je pense que c'est le bon mot. Je n'ai rien contre les personnages immatures au début des romans car c'est leur évolution qui se retrouve être intéressante dans l'histoire... Mais pour autant, ici, Antiquity n'a pas changé pour moi. Plus j'avançais dans ma lecture, plus j'avais l'impression qu'elle ne changeait pas, qu'elle restait immature et impulsive, bien que le récit avançait vers une certaine réalisation.
Puis, c'est l'écriture qui m'a aussi déconcentré. Durant ma lecture et à la fin, je suis restée avec trop de questions sans réponses. Lorsque je lisais des descriptions, j'avais de la difficulté à bien visualiser les scènes et les dialogues me paraissaient trop creux. Je pense n'avoir pas assez accroché à la manière dont était narré l'histoire.
¤
En bref, c'est un roman qui a un bon potentiel, avec un point de départ, un environnement intéressant, malgré le manque de développement dans le texte et la protagoniste à laquelle je ne me suis pas attachée.

--‐-----------------
ENGLISH REVIEW:

I enjoyed my reading which happens to be an interesting mix between post-apocalyptic and science fiction, although there were negative points for me.
¤
Forever shamed for family actions a century earlier, Antiquity Grey is a young woman living in a far-future city of Erth. It is a life of danger and hardship, dragons and advanced technology.
But when she discovers an outlawed and operational mech buried in the sands of her planet, she realizes its secrets hold the power to reverse her family’s dishonor while challenging the Imperium’s off-world oppressive might. The Imperium is not so willing to loosen its grip, needing Erth’s valuable titanium resources at a time when war spreads among the stars. In response, the Governor of Erth sends Star Sentinel―his mightiest mech, which nothing can stand against―after Antiquity.
As she flees into the wilderness in a desperate attempt to uncover the secrets of her past and free an entire planet, Antiquity learns friendship can mean more than family, even the hardest heart of an enemy can soften, and adventure is not what she thought it would be.
¤
From the first page, I must say that the author was able to snatch me into his universe. We find ourselves in a future where the Earth has been colonized by what is called the Imperium. The two worlds are fighting for the resources that the blue planet contains. I appreciated this rather interesting starting point, which, I find, echoes our news concerning the conflicts and the existing colonizations in several countries in order to exploit the various resources of the Earth.
By adding to this hostile environment a bit of science fiction, of technology, the author created a good cocktail whose ingredients stung my palate, as this story in its form intrigued me enormously.
Also, I liked the fact that it was the ancestors of the protagonist who caused this war and that today, Antiquity would have to do everything to save her world, despite the shame and dishonor. We have a little connotations of revenge, of value. Because Antiquity isn't her family. She's not just the result of the facts of her elders. She's a whole person who must prove her worth to the world and restore her own honor which has been sadly eaten up by the fall of her family.
¤
However, a lot of things made me end up not being so focused during my reading, at the end of the book.
I found the protagonist too... immature. I think that's the right word. I have nothing against the immature characters at the beginning of stories because it's their evolution that I found to be interesting... But for all that, Antiquity has not changed for me. The further I read in my reading, the more I felt that she didn't change, that she's still immature and impulsive, even if the story progressed towards a certain realization.
Then, it's the writing which also distracted me. During my reading and at the end, I was left with too many unanswered questions. When I read descriptions, I had difficulties visualizing the scenes well and the dialogue seemed too hollow to me. I don't think I clung enough to the way the story was told.
¤
In short, it's a book that has good potential, with a starting point, an interesting environment, despite the lack of development in the text and the protagonist to whose I didn't attach myself.